Small Business Interviewing Tips (for Journalists!)

A media interview provides a great opportunity to generate buzz surrounding your small business. Knowing how to give a great media interview – and get the most out of it for your brand – is key to helping your business build deeper long-term relationships with new and existing customers. It's also important to ensure that you're prepared for when your big moment arrives, however, what do you do if the interview is going south? Here are some simple steps to ensure you are keeping an interview on track:

• Off-topic questions.  This happens more frequently than not and all it takes is the use of your strong conversational skills to easily turn the focus back to the issue at hand. Use leading questions such as, "What many people ask me is..." or "What people find more surprising is..."

• Unclear response.  Because earned media often carries more weight and credibility in the minds of the consumers you'll want to stay within your level of expertise and also reinforce yourself as a thought leader. If you are unsure of an answer to a specific question, consider using a generic response statement such as, "What I can tell you is..."

• Controversial questions.  Use your own powerful words to soften your introduction before delivering on any controversial ideas. While in an interview, acknowledging an opposing view just may help to immediately diffuse it. Consider saying, "People who may disagree with me might say..."

• Interview lag.  If the interview is lagging ask to read from your book or describe a product/service from a one to two paragraph statement that you have prepared ahead of time. This is a great opportunity to highlight your personality and provide your expert opinion.

• Persistent questions.  These are the questions that have been asked repeatedly over the years and perhaps is now a topic that you would like to avoid.  In this situation you can either provide very short responses or say, "I've really answered this to the best of my knowledge at this time, may we move on?"

 ¿Whant to know more? Read the full article from Susan Harrow, a best-selling author andmedia training expert.